Woodforest is planned for more than 5,500 homes. The Montgomery County is situated between Conroe and The Woodlands. (Katherine Feser / Houston Chronicle)

Woodforest is on target to release 600 lots to builders this year, with 300 already delivered, putting it on pace to top last year’s sales while adding two new types of housing, the developer announced.

A project of the Johnson Development Corp. spanning 3,000 acres in Montgomery County north of The Woodlands, Woodforest is adding the lots to existing neighborhoods as well as introducing new ones.

Woodforest will offer the first townhomes in early October. Chesmar Homes will build 56 homes priced from $180,000 in the Cheswood neighborhood. The homes will be designed with young families and empty-nesters in mind.

Taylor Morrison recently introduced housing for buyers age 55 and up in Bonterra at Woodforest, a community planned for 700 homes with 110 properties in its first phase. The community features one-stories geared toward baby boomers and will have a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse to serve as the hub for scores of clubs and activities. The community reflects the latest design trends in active adult communities, a segment which has been growing across the country. See story here and photo gallery here.

“More than 30 homes have already sold in Bonterra, less than two weeks after the community’s grand opening,” Virgil Yoakum, general manager of Woodforest, said in an announcement. “This was a much-needed addition to the Houston residential real estate market.”

Builders have started more than 300 homes in Woodforest so far this year, about 3 percent above last year’s pace, according to the developer.

Builders sold a record 457 homes in Woodforest in 2013, a 40 percent increase over 2012, according to housing consulting firm Metrostudy. Woodforest, which is home to the Woodforest Golf Club, ranked No. 6 among Houston-area master-planned communities by home sales and No. 7 by home starts with 444 started last year.

Since opening in 2009, 3,500 people have moved to Woodforest. The community, five miles north of The Woodlands off of Fish Creek Thoroughfare, is part of a region with strong demand for housing near Exxon Mobil’s new campus. The community’s first onsite school, Stewart Elementary in the Conroe Independent School District, is set to open Aug. 25.